Dumb and…. No, just dumb.

In 1994 the world was blessed with the chaotic antics of two good-hearted but incredibly stupid friends portrayed by veteran comedy superstars Jim Carrey and Jeff Danials. “Dumb and Dumber” was an instant classic and a smash success which became tent pole additions to the actors’ resumes. In 2003 New Line Cinema brought us the uninspired and underwhelming prequel entitled “Dumb and Dumberer” which failed to impress both critics and audiences alike. Now in 2014, 20 years after the first film we pick up in real time with our returning original actors for the next leg of their life’s journey, with no shortage of crude jokes and wacky shenanigans.

This film suffered hurtles from the very start, between heavy script redrafting, the production rights being dropped by and pawned off onto various low level production companies left not just the eager fans but also the starring actors feeling like the whole project might end up a wash. It’s times like those when human beings are known to ignore the obvious signs in front of them and persue the road they should not travel. It became very quite clear very early in the film that the road the creators of this movie followed was blocked, barricaded, and riddled with “Do Not Enter” signs.

The story structure was virtually a complete replica of the original, the cornball humour was back-washed with pathetic “dick and fart” jokes and made even worse by the desperate grappling of remaining threads from the original movies already campy jokes. After two full decades one would think it would have been safe to assume that the stars would do something other than carry a mystery case across country while being tailed by hapless villains, but you know what happens when you assume, right?

Jim Carrey, oh Jim, where for art thou? Jim Carrey is a household comedic name and he always will be, but his days are gone. It’s hard to expect anything decent out of Carrey anymore and this one was no exception. Jim Carrey’s best work will always be remembered and quoted for many decades to come but his age is really coming to the surface and perhaps he should consider taking a long and sturdy step back.

Jeff Daniels, the thing about Mr. Daniels is that sometime in the early 90s someone realized that under the right circumstances he could be a very funny man. Daniels is a very smart and talented character actor with an impressive resume featuring both on and off screen roles, which makes it so much harder to watch such a talent stoop to the big action and little delivery level that his role provided. It seemed like the director chose to ignore Jeff’s natural goofiness and opted out for arm flails and shirt grabs that begs to wonder if Daniels had to constantly remind himself to “never go full retard” during the entire course of filming.

Rob Riggle is a name that seems to be popping up more and more over the last few years and has no signs of slowing down. This guy is really breaking out onto the scene with some heavy hitting roles and he seems to knock each one out of the park, and this one was no exception with a double-bill role that really felt was written just for him.

The sets used in the films were used well, we were reintroduced to some memorable locations, with memorable characters, and then sent on another on-the-road adventure with the same basic locations and forgettable pit stops. There really wasn’t much in the way of actual effect sin the film but what was used was done fairly well and is received without prejudice.

There were high hopes and even higher concerns for this film from the very moment it actually came into fruition, it seemed like people had made their minds up about how they felt towards the movie before they had even witnessed the first trailer. Now that the film is out and the crowds have spoken it would appear that people’s original perception will probably be the one they hold firm on, if they like it then they will love it and if they don’t like it then they will hate it. Unfortunately the overall lack of imagination in this film left it lacking of any and all magic.

Comedy is a difficult road and when you reach a pinnacle that is unparalleled by any competitor then the worst thing to do is wait twenty years and regurgitate the same jokes with an unambitious dirty twist and expect it catapult back up into the spotlight. Sometimes dead is better.